News / 10-01-2021

In its first circular of 2021 the UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure has announced the reopening of airspace and sea / land borders with Qatar. We understand that all previous measures taken with respect to Qatari owned vessels and cargo will also be lifted and relations will resume as normal.

The announcement follows a similar announcement by Saudi Arabia following a meeting of GCC leaders in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia early in the New Year. At the time so called sanctions were imposed in the summer of 2017 other countries including Egypt also imposed restrictions on the arrival of Qatari owned cargo and vessels into ports.  It is expected that all countries will lift such restrictions in the coming weeks.

This is a welcome step to the maritime community internationally as ship owners/operators will no longer need to plan routes to take into account of restrictions which were in place and furthermore service suppliers in the UAE  can now resume to serve Qatari requirements.  

If you would like further information on the unfolding crisis and how this may affect your operations in the region please contact Rania Tadros, Managing Partner in Dubai.